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The Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) is a forbidding 12th-century stone fortress in the heart of Ghent, complete with a moat, turrets, and a well-preserved keep. It was the seat of the Counts of Flanders and served as a court, prison, and factory before becoming a museum.
Built in 1180 by Count Philip of Alsace, modelled on Crusader castles he encountered in the Holy Land. It served as a mint, courthouse, prison, and even a cotton factory in the 19th century before restoration in 1894.